Chapter Eight
Old Family & Old Memories
Isel had kicked me in the head yesterday. She was worried about where I was. Honestly I don't get that woman most of the time. She's either the toughest and strongest one I've ever met, or the most girlish one. And she switches between both without warning. Honestly it gets annoying. All I can think of doing is avoiding her early in the morning so she finds out I'm already gone. In fact the alarm on my watch gave me an advantage because it woke me up at six instead of noon. I could just evade her all day, but where? I didn't know where else to go? She knew where to find me at the observatory, she knew my other do nothing spots, and she knew I liked being with my ship. So I had to think outside the box. And then it hit me. I did want to meet up with the family. So I headed to the farming level.
The walls stayed freshly painted a light grey this time. They did not turn the rusty red colour on this floor. I don't know why though. The humidity was higher on this level. That should rust it more not less. But it must be a special paint, because it looked as good as new. Or maybe it was new. I didn't know, and who cares. It works for me. I was looking for the one farm that the sign read: Dane & Lisa Paktu. It was owned by my foster parents from when I was a kid. I haven't seen them in years and just thought I should stop by and say hi. After all, they're the only family I have left now.
All the farms had small and young vegetables growing. They must have just been planted. But the odd thing was that the place was lit up by a huge incandescent bulb that would move and then turn off for twelve hours to simulate the day and night cycles.
I arrived at the sign and saw that the farm looked the same as the others. But this one was special. I knew people who lived on it. I walked up to the front door of the farm house. Yeah this was a huge level. The farmers had houses made of sandstone and wood that looked exactly like the one I grew up in. I guess it was for the farmers to live in a peaceful environment rather than the metal walls and floors that the rest of the Mothership crew did. It had a nice feel to it. It felt like I was back on Kharak. The only metal there was besides the open walls of the huge room was the tractors and other various machines that the farmers shared.
I knocked on the front door and waited for an answer. I go one. I was then hit with a sudden realisation. What if they didn't want me around? But that was then replaced with the calming words of the person who answered.
"Hello? Oh! Elm...I mean Mark! This is unexpected. Come on in!" I was greeted by my mother Lisa. She looked happy to see me. This was a good sign. We walked by three rooms. In the third, I noticed my younger sister Ellen. She was only three the last time I saw her. She of course didn't know who I was. I ran away before she was born. Now that I realise it, it was only two years ago that I had seen them. Yet it felt like ten. We went into the kitchen and she sat at the table. I did the same.
"So where are the other two?" I asked her.
"Dane went to the shopping level to get some stuff and your sister is outside in the garden. She really misses you. You two were always so close. But you had to do what you thought was right. I guess you just never had farming in your blood. But I'm okay with it." She sighed and then got up to make something that required vegetables.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Yes actually you can go in the back and get some Agriisak roots." They were my sister's favourite. They had an extremely sweet taste to them; almost unnatural. I knew Lisa didn't actually want me to go get any because she had a pile of them right next to her. I understood her riddle and went to find my older sister in the back by the Agriisak's.
"Hey. It's been a while." As I said that, she quickly stood up to face me. She was still shorter than I was. It was kinda funny for me because she was two years older than me. But I was always taller than her.
"Elmer? Why didn't you come back? We were worried about you! We missed you." She then gave me a hug. Not a soft hug either. She nearly squeezed my guts out. She had a lot of muscle. This was probably because she worked on the farm all the time.
I waited until she stopped. "Jen, I know you missed me. But it was my choice. I had to do what I had to do. I needed to find my real parents, my bloodline. I had lots of training to do. I didn't have the time to travel to the southern regions."
"But Elmer?"
"It's Mark now." I said. She looked surprised. But not the happy surprised like Lisa. She was more I can't even look at you surprised. Well I did sort of deserve it. She ran inside and I thought I heard her crying. I picked one of the red rooted vegetables and cleaned it off with one of the water hoses. I crunched the root and tasted the unbelievable sweetness of the Agriisak. And then I had an instant flashback; like I had suddenly fallen unconscious. But I then remembered that the Agriisak can do that to you when you need to think hard about something. I guess now was one of those times.
I could only hear the sound of a roaring fighter jet engine. To the top, I could see Kharak. But to the bottom, I could only see blackness. It was then that it hit me. It was the time two years ago that I was being tested for my annual pilot training. It was the time I got my rank seven. I was only fourteen at the time. The engines were roaring then suddenly, I heard something. Like an explosion. It came from behind.
"I have a problem up here!" I said over the speaker. It was as if I was there, I could think, but I could not do anything. I was in my body, but I couldn't act at my own free will. I was stuck until it was over.
"We hear you Mark. There has been a malfunction in the fuel cells. You're leaking. You won't have enough to get back so you'll have ton head for the habitable southern pole regions. We will send a team to wait for your return. They will be there in about three weeks." I recognised that voice. It was the western general. The one me and Jay made fun of the year before this happened. "We're sorry. We can't do anything. It's not your fault that this has happened. We'll do our best to get to you as soon as possible."
After he said this, the fighter moved closer and closer to the surface. But the fuel was empty and the light was flashing red to signal the ejection procedure. Without a choice, I pressed the button and the hatch opened sending the seat with me in it; towards a suicidal ejection into the upper stratosphere where the oxygen level and air pressure were both extremely low. I unbuckled myself from the seat with nothing but a parachute bag already attached to my ejection suit. I separated from the seat and sent away from it. All this time I felt every part of my body depressurising. It felt like your entire body was swelling up and bulging with red. The skin turned red because of the blood trying to pop out of your skin. It felt like a dream, but the pain was as real as it was the first time. After about five minutes, I felt the pain slowly decreasing. And then, I passed out.
I was now asleep, when I was asleep.
I woke up in my dream still in freefall like I did two years ago. I needed to pull my Shute. I was not too far from the ground. But no matter how much I yelled for myself to pull it, I didn't. I then remembered that I was too terrified to pull it. But eventually I did. No one knows how it feels to be falling that fast and has no idea of how it is terrifying. It feels like you were shot out of a gun towards the planet. And activating the parachute was like feeling all the weight in my body suddenly rush to my feet. It hurt. But then I felt like I was floating slowly down to the ground. But it wasn't the actual ground that I was falling to. It was the Majiirian Sea; the ocean surrounding the southern regions from the Great Desert. But as I remembered, I fell to a tropical island and not to the deadly sharks of the Sea. And sure enough, it was there. The tropical island was there. I was falling to it. But when I hit the ground, I realised I wasn't actually going as slow as I thought. I hit a rock and sprained my ankle. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but when I remembered far back, I needed to wait a week for it to heal before I could swim to the green shoreline that I could just barely see in the distance.
The days and nights passed by; I was dreaming the entire event. But it happened before. And I used the Agriisak before. I knew when I woke, that it would be the same time as when I fell asleep. But the effects of time were real. I felt each day pass as it was a real day. And I scavenged for food and all the things you had to do when stranded on a deserted island. But I still could not physically control my body. It was frustrating. And I never knew when it was going to end. I could replay the entire two years up to now or I could wake up in a second. I honestly didn't mind the first option. I would see my friends and family before they were going to die by the Taiidan. But it eventually came to an end. It was after I swam across the Sea. I knocked on my foster parent's door and my sister answered.
"Elmer?" and then I woke up.
It was then all gone. I was sitting in the field with the Agriisak root in my hand. But I threw it to the ground just in case I had to go through it again. It felt like a whole week I had been gone, when in reality it was only just less than a second. That was the meaning of 'Agriisak' in old Kushan. The literal transition I am not familiar with but it means just what I went through. This vegetable is illegal in most markets and is even sometimes illegal to grow. But we are taking it with us to Hiigara so its important effect is not lost for eternity. But the thing is; the effect does not happen to everyone. For some reason, it only does this when someone is thinking about the past or wondering what happened that they didn't want but couldn't stop. It had nothing to do with me visiting my family for the first time in two years.
It was different. It lured people into eating it for the sweetness but then it might find you dwelling on the past and makes you repeat the events you are thinking of trapped inside your body from that time. So you would not want to think about it again. It was a mysterious thing. I never understood it very well. But then I decided to walk to the house again. I wanted to see everyone so what the hell am I doing out here?
I went inside to find Ellen playing with her dolls so I walked up to her and kneeled down to her height.
"What are you doing?"I asked to try and make her speak.
"Playing. Rosie is going to school and she has friends there. She's riding the school bus right now." I realised she was five now and should be attending school. But this is a time of war now. She couldn't go to school.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked like adults do when they're talking to a little kid.
"You are that Elmer guy that Jenny's always talking about aren't you?" I was surprised. Not by her answer, well yeah I was surprised she knew my name, but her grammar is excellent for a five year old.
"Actually I'm your older brother. You wouldn't remember me though. I left to live somewhere else before you were born. And the last time I was here you were probably too little to remember." All she did was smile. I smiled back and got up to go to the kitchen.
When I turned the corner, I saw Jen sitting at the table and Lisa was finishing that salad she had started. There were Agriisaks chopped up with lettuce and a dozen other things. The Agriisak's effect only work when they are fresh from the soil. If they are cut, peeled and boiled, they lose their hypnotic effect. That is until you go to sleep at night. It gives you dreams. Dreams you remember in crystal clear detail the next morning.
"Looks yummy." I said reaching my hand in to grab some. But Lisa quickly smacked my hand to tell me not to touch. I stood there with a grin on my face. She would usually throw in some Diiraan Crab meat to add a seafood flavour. But no foreign meat was allowed on the Mothership. They were worried about contaminating the cycle of life on Hiigara. However, all the vegetation was allowed to be grown.
"Why did you choose now to return here?" Jen asked in an angry tone.
"I thought you said she missed me." I whispered to Lisa. But all she did; was give her you'll see smile. "Well I don't know, because I felt like it. My blood father just died recently you know? So before you think you're in emotional pain, think about other's first." I think I was getting through to her. Her tears had stopped so that was a good sign.
"What? Markus died! How tragic...how tragic..." Lisa said trailing off in thought. "You must be feeling absolutely horrible." She said to comfort me. But the honest truth was that I had almost gotten over the pain of losing him. The only thing troubling me now is that if I need help, or if I need advice only the wise Markus can give, I was on my own. No one was here to help me when I needed it the most. Sure the Dane-Paktu family was here, but these farmers didn't have the answers to my great problems. Marcus always did.
"I guess that means you'll be visiting more often?" Jen said. But I didn't bother to answer her selfish question. She had changed so much since when we were growing up together. She was always selfless and looked at things from the perspective of others. Now she just wants her life to be good ignoring everyone else's. But I wasn't completely sure yet. I had not yet gotten through to her. All it would take is time. It was only six thirty after all. I still love the idea of having a watch to know the time. It really helps.
"No. This only means I have no one else to go to. I just want you to know that I'm not back. I'm far from it. I'll only be back after all the Taiidan are dead. Every last one of them." After thinking about it, I had an uncontrollable anger against them now.
I looked back at the two of them and they were stunned. They didn't know how to reply to this. And this is why I cannot rely on them. They were simple farmers and did not know how to deal with uncontrollable anger of revenge. They knew not the meaning of war. I could not look to them for advice if they knew less about the subject than I myself did.
It was now past noon, and I helped out on the farm all afternoon. My dad, my step-dad sorry for the confusion, came home and he came out to give me a hand. He hadn't said a word. He acted like I have been doing this every day with him for the past two years. I wondered what was on his mind. Maybe the others told him about what I had said earlier. Or maybe he was just glad to see me. Either way, I helped him do all the watering and uproot all the vegetables that were done growing. Like the Gyenn Potato, the Cereib Grass and even the Agriisak. The Gyenn was a tiny root that tastes very bland. It needs seasoning to taste like anything; which is probably the reason for the Cereib; a very spicy red grass that tastes like the spicy Tuuang Peppers of the South Pole where it grows in fields that stretch out far beyond the horizon. I had mistaken some peppers similar in size, shape and color, but it was extremely sour and bitter. I was hoping for a yummy spicy quabbit stew cooked on a fire, instead it was sour and tasted like mould.
I went home near seven because I decided to stay for super. It was the Agriisak salad with some tofu roast. I usually don't like vegan-style meals, but there was no meat on the Mothership but the Kushan crew, and I'm not a cannibal. But it tasted good with all the spices. That's what they grow. That's what these nice farmers always grew; spices, seasonings and a few small vegetables that could be sundried and made into other stuff that tastes good when it is all mixed together. Spices sell even more than the vegetables do. Everyone likes spices and that's the reason. They will buy some food, but they will also buy half a dozen spices to put with it. And the reason for the Agriisak is that it is a family tradition to keep these important vegetables in existence. In fact, all the wild Agriisak had gone extinct. These were probably the last ones left. One of the main reasons there are lots of them growing here.
At the end of the day, I went home to find out the couch and the television had all been delivered and placed in my room; but by the time I got to lie down, I was already gone. I was exhausted from the day. And tomorrow was another adventure. I'm not waking up early to avoid Isel.
And before I knew it, I was asleep. But this time I was dreaming due to the effects of the boiled Agriisak in the salad. I don't know exactly what was going on. I was hovering above a blue and green planet.
Hiigara was the word that came to mind. It was beautiful. The green areas with the yellow and orange lights of cities on the night side; the blue spackle of the oceans, the bright blue atmosphere, the yellow blinding light of its sun; and the object in orbit was a sphere. This must be the legendary homeworld only spoken of in the oldest of Gaalsien scripts. The other object must be the Angelmoon; the moon of Hiigara. All this is written on the Guidestone in detail. I turned to face other space expecting to find something more. And I did, but not what I was looking for. I found a battle going on nearby. I couldn't see very clearly. There were two sides. There was a grey side that's markings looked identical to ours. This must be our side, and the other was hard to see. It had black paint on the ships to make it blend in with space. I then realised where I was.
I was in the final battle of our people. The battle of Hiigara as I named it, I don't know if what I saw was real, but it was the closest thing to it. I didn't know which side was winning; but it didn't matter. Ships were exploding on every side. This meant we had a chance. And it didn't matter if we win or lose, we reached Hiigara, and that's all that mattered. I then heard a very loud explosion. I looked but it was no ship. Just then, I woke up.
The dream was weird. Its meaning was confusing. But then it came to me. I would be the one to bring them to their knees. I had to. Or all was lost. No other Kushan could do it. The age of war had ended after the three hundred years of the Hersey Wars. We were not yet ready to take on another. We were peaceful in general. Sure there were the Sobani, but we are the only tribe of the Kiithid that has the strength and the will to fight. Every resistance needs a leader. I could be that leader. I could now see my calling. It was clear to me. This would be how I rise to glory. This is the war I would fight for. I needed to. Or we would all die and the Kushan race would become extinct. How's that for pressure.